Ava Brooks
Nov 26, 2023
The remake of Super Mario RPG has intentionally retained and recreated a peculiar design flaw from the original game involving Valentina's parrot, which would randomly change in size and shape.
Despite enhancements like post-game rematches, new weapons, and tweaked combat mechanics in the Switch remake of Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, the game largely remains faithful to its SNES predecessor. It even preserves nostalgic Easter eggs such as the hidden item in Peach's room.
This remake stays remarkably true to the source material, going as far as deliberately resurrecting certain flaws present in the SNES release. One particular issue was highlighted by Twitter user dbMisadventure, who pointed out a noticeable discrepancy in Valentina's design that persists even after nearly three decades.
In the original Super Mario RPG, a curious anomaly revolves around Valentina, one of the game's bosses. Strangely, Valentina has two distinct character models — one for the overworld and another for battles. These models exhibit noticeable discrepancies, including a difference in head shape.
What stands out as the oddest detail is the change in Valentina's head size, resulting in a similar distorted appearance for her parrot, notably different from its portrayal in the overworld model. While seemingly intended to convey a more aggressive stance for battle, it unintentionally renders the parrot with a slightly comical appearance.
One might expect the remake to rectify this design glitch by providing a unified Valentina model without the odd disparities between the two. Surprisingly, the remake not only preserves this peculiarity but also accentuates it.
As evident in dbMisadventure's tweet, the remake features two distinct Valentina models, amplifying the contrast in the parrot's appearance between them — showcasing unmistakable differences in head shape and wing size. In fact, the parrot now resembles a pool float more than an avian companion.
While it would have been simple for the developers to unify Valentina's design, the intentional recreation of this oversight demonstrates their deep reverence for the SNES classic, flaws included.
